walking . is . overrated

Great news for those of you living in the bewilderingly blustery city of Wellington, you now have your very own wheelchair accessible swing! The new swing (see the picture on the left, and click on it for a larger view) is located in Shorland Park in the suburb of Island Bay (a pretty place if I do say so myself), and was opened recently by NZ’s Governor-General, Anand Satyanand. (I didn’t know we had a new one!)

It’s the 18th accessible swing, known as ‘Variety Liberty Swings‘, to be installed throughout the country, with many more to come I hope! It’s worth noting that the swing is locked when not in use to prevent damage being done to it, so make sure you give either the Wellington City Council - (04) 499-4444 or the Island Bay Lions Club - (04) 383-5011 a call first to organise key pickup/delivery.

I think this is really neat, so often you see disabled kids completely isolated at playgrounds because there’s nothing for them to do, and they’re simply left to watch their friends play. These types of initiatives help to remove disabling barriers and let disabled kids interact with their friends on the playground, and consequently helping them integrate better into social circles. Great stuff!

For those of you in other parts of the country, leave a comment below letting us know if there’s a wheelchair accessible swing in your area, I know there’s one in Auckland’s Rocket Park for those of you in the Mt Albert area.

Thanks to Michelle for this info!